Facebook killed the Blogspot Star.

So sad. I am such a fair-weather friend. When I needed to start a blog, Blogger was there for me. Now I am always posting on Facebook. I need to spend some time here. Relationships take work.

Sadly, not much is going on in my running blogosphere. I got new shoes. They're Asics 7 Wide. Apparently my feet are expanding.

The west side highway continues to be worked on, which is nice.

The water fountain at Christopher Street has a weak pressure. Almost had to lick the spout.

Team Joe has the sexiest women around. Where are all the single men for them?

Christopher Stephens will be on Jeopardy July 11. He's super smart. And he runs a lot.

These are my thoughts about running these days. I will work on it. Maybe if I do Tuesday's crossword, my brain will start simmering with new thought.

I'll keep you posted.

Find Team Joe on Facebook

Be sure to check out the new and improved Facebook group. Go to http://www.facebook.com/groups/teamjoecoffee and click the "Ask to Join Group" button on the upper right to join!

The "old" Facebook group is being phased out, so please join the new group for the latest updates. Unfortunately, Facebook doesn't offer a way to automatically convert the old group to the new group. Sorry for the inconvenience!

Running, Coffee and Jeopardy!

A few weeks ago I headed out to California to appear on a game show. But that's not the important part of the story.

I was scheduled to tape the show on a Tuesday, and rather than flying out the day before and risk that my flight would get delayed, cancelled, or otherwise messed with by winter weather, I opted to build in an extra day. Who wouldn't want to spend an extra day in Los Angeles, right? Early on in the planning of the trip, I also decided that I wasn't going to rent a car. While LA without wheels might seem like heresy, of at least a bad idea, I saw it as a challenge. Also, I find driving in LA to be far more stressful than driving in other parts of the country, and the last thing I wanted the day before appearing on national TV was more stress. I e-mailed some locals about renting a bike, but the logistics didn't seem too favorable, as there was nowhere near the hotel (where I happily asked for the "Jeopardy contestant rate, please") for me to rent a bike.

I also e-mailed Caitlin, a fellow Team Joe runner who spends a good deal of time in California each spring. I asked her for any suggestions for running routes, and she enthusiastically recommended I run in Santa Monica. A few Google Map searches later, I had found the surprisingly comprehensive bus routes that would take me from my hotel in Culver City to the start of her running route.

Having packed my running gear (as well as some flashcards about the US States and Presidents - gotta get that last-minute studying in), I left cold, rainy, dismal late-winter New York for LAX, where I was disappointed to learn that the weather was to be unseasonably chilly. Turns out that the weather forecasters were wrong. I woke up on Monday morning to blue skies, a slight breeze, and temperatures in the low sixties. I put on my running shoes, hopped on the Culver City bus, transferred to the Santa Monica bus ($1.40 with transfer - a bargain!), and soon I was at the shore.

I walked along the manicured space that is Palisades Park to San Vicente and started my run, admiring the real estate as it moved from multi-million dollar apartments to multi-multi-million dollar homes. Caitlin had suggested I run the four miles to the Peet's Coffee in Brentwood, where I might spot the likes of Reese Witherspoon and whomever she was dating at the time. While Reese was nowhere to be seen, I took my latte outside. At the next table, a Brit was telling his table-mate about "some horrible Harrison Ford project". Pronouncing it "PRO-ject" rather than "PRAH-ject" made the moment perfect. The latte was fine, but not up to Joe standards, of course. Observe the lack of latte art:

I started back towards the shore, spotting actor James Frain (True Blood! The Tudors!) eating lunch outside the Whole Foods, not as exciting a celebrity spotting as Reese, but good enough. As I picked up my pace, I realized the best part of this experience was not just the exercise or the scenery or even the weather. It was the luxurious feeling of going running in the middle of a work day. I was not the only runner out there, and I did wonder what these other folks were doing not behind a desk. Actors between auditions? Housewives, desperate or otherwise? Don't these folks have jobs to go to? All the same, I couldn't think of a better way to spend my free time. I got back to the beach, crossed over the highway and made my way to Venice and Marina del Rey to catch the 183 bus to Culver City, where I could not have been more relaxed and ready to do battle the next day.

As for the game show, I can't say much, as I had to sign something that said Sony Pictures Entertainment retained the right to have their legal department crush me like a small bug if I revealed anything. I think I'm safe in saying that yes, they had (adequate) coffee (and pastries!) in the green room and that there was one category of clues that would be of particular interest to the readership of this blog. For more than that, you'll have to tune in on Monday July 11 (on Channel 7 at 7pm, if you're in New York).

And, finally, one last gratuitous palm tree shot. Because LA really does look like this sometimes.

I saw Daffodils and Sprouting Trees!!

I sucked it up last weekend and ran both days! I have been lax, especially about the Sunday run at it-takes-me-an-hour-to-get-there Columbus Ave. Luckily we got a ride, so it was quick and painless!

We'd had a couple warm days, so the trees were sprouting, the earth rising and stretching, yawning and sleepy. Spring!

Sleepy Hollow Half Marathon

As an alternative to the NYC Half and in celebration of another 30-something birthday I will be running the 1st Annual Sleepy Hollow Half Marathon.
March 26, 9:30am
It's a short Metro-North train ride, but a world away. I do fear I will have to run a few more hills than I'm used to.

Who goes running in the cold?

Turns out, lots of people.

On Saturday I ventured downtown to Joe on Waverly ("Where Team Joe Began"). Although the temperatures were frigid, we had six runners, including Nico (from France by way of Vancouver), Marco (from Italy by way of Hoboken) and four of us ordinary vanilla Americans. The wind off the river was, er, bracing, but we made good time. Partly because Nico is really fast, and mostly because we wanted to get back to the warmth of Joe for coffee.

I followed up on Sunday at Joe on Columbus. Such a crowd! Gabby and Anthony, naturally, Simon (who just became a US citizen - congrats!) and Carly, their friend Evan (training for a marathon in Death Valley, which strikes me as a very bad idea - any race with "death" in the name??) Noah and Hannah (investigative reporter, wrestling coach and doula all rolled into one), and Laura, who is getting back to running after producing the adorable Maisie a few months ago. Maisie did not appear after the run, as she was helping her father watch a football match. After the run, I opted for a macchiato. Why haven't I been drinking these all the time? They're delicious!

So, the moral of the story is that even on a cold January long weekend, there are still plenty of people who are getting out of bed and running on the weekend. No excuses, people. No excuses. That delicious coffee won't drink itself.

Breaking the Cold Barrier

Yesterday started out with a little sleep-in. That meant 8:30, so not completely lazy, but an hour and a half later than weekday wakings. Anthony and I had wavered about running uptown and after checking the weather for Sunday, had had decided maybe we'd skip. Nobody was going to show up with windchill in the teens.

At 9AM, I started getting antsy. We'd had our Chemex of coffee and oatmeal and ahead of us was a long day of CBS Sunday Morning, schlepping around Brooklyn Heights and to me, it seemed to be missing something.

Suddenly, I had the itch to run. With my people. I was almost afraid to broach the subject with Anthony, who looked very content in flannel PJs on the couch. Then I cracked. "I really want to go run Uptown today." "Ok", he said. Like hundreds of times before in the last 9 months, I knew I had married the right man.

We got to Joe Columbus at ten to 10. Shockingly, there were runners milling about outside. Some new faces as well as my dear friends Christopher Stephens, the passionate pie-baking judge; Laura Gwilliam, the Mommy of Maisy, about 3 months, and who works for Balvenie Scotch(score!), and who is Scotch herself; Hana, who went to my Alma Mater, McGill, studied languages, wrestled Olympic level, sings in an a cappella choir and is a doula; Noah, a classical pianist at Mannes, and a few more. Basically, we were a cross section of New York. A melting pot of countries, backgrounds, interesting jobs and differing ages, brought together by a mutual love of running and coffee.

Great conversations ensued and nobody seemed to notice to frigid air. I was really happy we went running with Team Joe. I now have a renewed enjoyment of Winter running that I thought I'd lost.